About

I was raised Christian, got a master’s degree in theology, was ordained a priest, and served in that capacity for approximately three years. If you ever want to understand a subject well, teach it well. To make a long story short, I taught Christianity so well that I came to understand that it and the Bible are approximately 50% false and 10% evil. This new and improved understanding eventually led me to create my own personal philosophy and largely reject Christianity.

Before I created my personal philosophy, I thought to myself, What should I base my beliefs on? And I concluded that I should base my beliefs on reason because reason is my best guide to embrace truth and reject falsehood. Then I thought, Reason alone will not guarantee that I will be a good person. Ayn Rand was very reasonable, but her philosophy, Objectivism, is very selfish and evil. So I concluded that I should also base my beliefs on compassion. Then I thought, OK, that will make me reasonable and compassionate, but I can still despair. So I also decided to base my beliefs on hope.

My books and this site are the result of decades of learning, thinking, writing, debating, and revising. I hope that you will join me on my journey of combining reason, compassion, and hope to be be as sane, good, and happy as possible. Please feel free to email me at jayson@deism.com if you have any questions or comments.